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Does Skip Marley’s Top 10 Hit Help Reggae or Hinder It?
Reggae | Saturday 4th March 2017 | Tali
Skip Marley, the grandson of reggae musician Bob Marley made history earlier this week when his collaborative single with popstar Katy Perry, Chained to the Rhythm, landed at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The single, a loud pop power ballad which was performed by the pair at this year’s Grammy awards, has gained Skip an array of media attention for becoming the first from the Marley family to gain a place on the Billboard chart's top 10.
Bob Marley only ever had one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 51with his sons Ziggy Marley gaining a place within the top 40 and Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley reaching number 55 with his popular hit, Welcome to Jamrock.
Though his previous single Lions lacked original reggae rhythms to favour a more pop focused sound, Chained to the Rhythm has been met with criticism, declaring that Skip would not have achieved the accomplishment without Katy Perry and the fan base that comes with her fame. This echoes similar collaborations between Jamaican reggae artists and American pop stars like Sean Paul’s 2016 single Cheap Thrills with Sia.
Jamaican DJ Collin Hines spoke on how "The pop market has always been open and that's an area that all artists should try to venture into. Any artists from Jamaica who are crafty enough, should try to peg around one of these international acts and try to get a hit of their own. Make the right connections with the right people."
Although a large amount of Skips Billboard success can be attributed to Katy Perry, the artist’s previous body of work sways away from traditional reggae, and bares scarce similarities to his grandfather Bob Marley as he paves his own way, and finds his own musical style.
